Tag: children’s fiction

I first read Howl’s Moving Castle in the 3rd or 4th grade, can’t really remember, and after reading House of Many Ways, reviewed in the previous post, I wanted to read it again! In reality this is probably the third or fourth time I’ve re-read it…

Sophie Hatter is doomed to a normal and boring life. As the eldest of three girls, she knows that her future will not include a charming prince, fabulous riches, or any magical ability–as everyone knows from the old fairytales, adventures are always left to the youngest of 3 siblings. Even worse, her family is actually quite prosperous, not poor and hungry like all the stories say one must be in order to go on a quest and having a happy ending. Her stepmother Fanny, really isn’t the least bit evil, and treats Sophie as if she were her own natural daughter.

Things change when Sophie’s father dies and leaves some debt to his family; in order to keep everything running, Fanny sends the two younger girls out to apprenticeships–Lettie (the 2nd oldest sister) to a bakery, and Martha (the youngest, and the one with the most chance of making her fortune) to a witch named Mrs. Fairfax in order to learn magic. Sophie stays on at the family’s hat shop, where she makes hats all day and generally lives a dull existence. She starts talking to her hats in order to pass the time, and her hats eventually become extremely popular. Popular enough to attract the attention of the Witch of the Waste, who sweeps in and places a curse on Sophie, turning her in to an old lady!

Sophie leaves town, afriad her family will see her in this state, and catches a ride on the mysterious flying castle of the Wizard Howl, who is known to be extremely evil and partial to eating the hearts and souls of beautiful young girls. She meets Michael, Howl’s apprentice, and Calcier, the fire demon who keeps the castle running. Sophie learns that the castle isn’t really a castle at all, but it has a magic door with a special colored knob–each color, when turned, lets the door open onto different locations.

The Wizard Howl himself is a dilemma; he’s vain, self-centered, and seems to completely ignore Sophie for the first few days she stays on in the castle, claiming to be an old cleaning lady. He spends all his time chasing girls, and dropping them the minute they start returning his interest. But at the same time he is kind to poor townspeople needing magical spells, and has a connection to a strange mysterious place called Wales, England…

Sophie soon finds out that other things are going wrong in the world–the King’s brother and Royal Wizard have gone missing, and the Witch of the Waste is making trouble for everyone. Then there’s her own old-lady curse that needs figuring out.

I’m on a Diana-Wynne-Jones binge right now, after reading House of Many Ways. I finished Howl’s Moving Castle in a few hours, and am currently reading The Dark Lord of Derkholm.

I really enjoyed Howl’s Moving Castle, I do everytime I read it, and it’s a good mix of humor, adventure, and all the crazy original ideas that Jones comes up with. She also has a way of pulling everything together really well in the end. Minor characters you briefly hear about in the beginning turn out to have connections to the larger plot and end up being more important than you realized.

Hayao Miyazaki, remarkable Japanese animator, made a film based on Jones’ book, also titled Howl’s Moving Castle. When I first heard that Miyazaki, film-genius, and Jones, writing-genius, were basically making a joint creation, I thought it was the best thing ever. I enjoyed the movie too, even though it didn’t completely follow Jones’ original plot. This was the first time I’d re-read it since seeing the movie, and a lot of the movie images and voices turned up while I was reading.

Howl’s Moving Castle also has a pseudo-sequel, called Castle in the Air. Also good, and involves some of the characters from the first book.

Charmain Baker has been brought up to be a “respectable” young woman by her mother, which means she has no experience with housework, real life, or that most vulgar and low-class of things: magic. Her great-uncle William, however, just so happens to be the Royal Wizard of High Norland, and after falling ill, calls in Charmain to look after his tiny cottage and his even tinier dog, Waif, while he is off with the elves, being treated for his mysterious sickness.

Charmain soon realizes that Great-Uncle William’s tiny little cottage is more magical than it originally seemed–for instance, in in order to get to the bathroom from the living room, one must open the door between the living room and kitchen, and immediately take a sharp left into the doorframe. Other hidden parts of the house are connected to the past, and one hallway leads directly to the Royal Mansion where the King and Princess live. A magical house with doors that lead mysterious places might sound a little familiar to fans of Diana Wynne Jones’ writing, with good reason, as the characters of Howl’s Moving Castle (Sophie, Calcifer, and Howl himself as well as a new addition to their family) make a decent cameo and are heavily involved in the plot.

The plot reveals itself as Charmain slowly finds out that not all is well in her country of High Norland–a disgusting and extremely dangerous creature called the Lubbock prowls the meadows outside town, and for some reason the gold in the Royal Treasury keeps disappearing. The King has become so poor that he must sell of many of the royal portraits and pictures that used to line the hallways of the Royal Mansion. Sophie, a famous witch, has been called in to help solve the problem, and she brings with her Calcifer the fire demon, her son Morgan, and a small, beautifully angelic, golden-haired boy who calls himself “Twinkle” and claims that “Thophie ith my auntie.”

I have really liked Diana Wynne Jones’ writing every since I first picked up her books in elementary school, and House of Many Ways was a great example of her storytelling. There was adventure, mystery, magic, and a good amount of humor when Sophie and her family showed up. I really identified with Charmain as her favorite activities are reading and eating–me too. But in the beginning I actually didn’t like her all that much, which I think the author may have done on purpose…? She is a little spoiled, a little lazy–but I believe most of it comes from having such a sheltered lifestyle.

Rating: 7 out of 10Summary: Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy–an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages. (from bookjacket)

My Thoughts: This is classified as a book for children or whatever, but I really enjoyed it. I thought the whole idea and set-up was very original and intriguing–a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard? I also like Gaiman’s writing style–I haven’t read too many of his other books, I kind of tried the first Sandman when I was younger but it was a little too scary for my taste–and I like how The Graveyard Book sounded and felt a little like a fairy tale at times.

Bod grows up in the graveyard and learns all sorts of necessary and slightly ghostly things.

Bod studied hard, and asked questions. Tongiht Bod asked about Hauntings, getting more and more specific, which exasperated Mr. Pennyworth, who had never gone in for that sort of thing himself.

“How exactly do I make a cold spot in the air? he asked, and “I think I’ve got Fear down, but how do I take it all the way up to Terror?” and Mr. Pennyworth sighed and hurrumphed and did his best to explain, and it was gone four in the morning before they were done.

Just a little creepy, but kind of in a cute way. I liked Bod a lot, and how the book followed him growing up and figuring out things about his Graveyard world, and the real world outside. There’s also conflict and danger when he faces down his family’s killer, and there was a certain surprise and twist that I didn’t see coming at all.

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I read almost any kind of novel, any length, any genre, although I prefer Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Young Adult books. I happily accept ARCs for review, and if you're interested in getting some free publicity for your book, click here for more details.